


Faire La Sourde Oreille

by deductress



Category: Versailles (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf Character, Deaf Philippe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 11:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15047606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deductress/pseuds/deductress
Summary: “A member of the royal family, at our quaint little university? Attending my little society? But surely you must have much more important duties to attend?”“You’d think so but no. I’m the spare, not the heir. And I’m deaf, not much use having a broken monarch."





	Faire La Sourde Oreille

Counting the bodies moving around the room – gathering fabric and collecting in groups to giggle and debate as they each took turns to throw out suggestions for material combinations – the Chevalier’s eyes fell upon two new additions to the club. Whom – he was deeply amused to notice –  cautiously entered the room skirting around the walls like shadows as they made their way to the seats situated at the furthest point of the room; seeming determined to remain hidden behind the screen dividers and mountains of material.

One was, at first sight, a fairly plain-looking blonde woman. She stood straight with confidence clear in her posture – her unusual clothing choice (green fascinator sitting jauntily atop her artfully messy braided hair with matching khaki shortall dungarees) suggested she was daring, full of character and not afraid to go against the crowd, particularly when it came to fashion. Something that can always be admired.

The second was… put simply; an angel fallen to Earth. Wavy glossy dark chocolate brown hair framed porcelain pale skin, sparkling blue eyes and pastel pink cupid’s bow lips like something from a catwalk – almost angelic in his delicate beauty. His outfit confirmed his exquisite fashion taste, the perfect blend of flattering fabrics and trendy patterns – slim fitting and accentuating his lithe appearance.

Mouth hanging open, Chevalier nudged his cousin before pointing towards the new attendees, “Who is that absolute _vision_ of beauty?”

Glancing at the pair, Sophie shrugged as her fingers twirled her long dark locks idly, “Newbies, looks like. Never seen them before anyway. Want me to scope them out?”

“No! No… I think I’d best introduce myself, in person, and welcome them, as President of the club,” Chevy waved away his cousin’s offer, his eyes never leaving the subject of his interest as he found himself practically floating towards the seats at the far end of the room, pulled by some unknown gravity.

Throwing a second glance at the pair and taking further notice of the pale male brunette, Sophie rolled her eyes and with a fondly exasperated tone pleaded, “Be gentle with him Chev – you’ll be the only male member at this rate if you keep flirting with every man that even considers joining the society.”

“Don’t worry my dear, I’d never touch your darling Fabien – wouldn’t dream of it!”

“Damn right you won’t. You traumatised him bad enough when he saw you walking around naked - minus that silk tie you had - in my apartment.”

“You call it traumatised, I call it deeply aroused sweetpea!” by this point the Chevalier was half way across the room, moving as sensuously towards the duo as he could – eyes trained on the brunette’s face.

As he neared, however, he became aware of the movement of their hands spinning and flicking in front of their chests and faces – was that mime? Or wait… sign language?

Both sets of eyes shot up as he stood before the seated pair, head held high as he flicked his long curly blonde locks over his shoulder extravagantly before utilising his most charming smile, “Hello to you both – new members to the society are we?”

Jumping up, the angel (as he was now dubbed within the Chevalier’s head) nodded, “Yes, hello, I’d like to join please – if there’s still some space?” His voice was level and clear though deep, each word enunciated perfectly – a trait indicative of someone who had attended many hours of articulation and eloquence lessons – Chevy’s heart lifted at the very sound, _not only the face of an angel but the voice of one too!_

“And why didn’t you join at the start of year during fresher’s my dear?”

“I was… pre-occupied with other matters. But I’m a keen designer and collector – I’ve been making myself outfits since I was five,” the brunette offered, expression earnest with a pleasant innocence Chevalier did not often see in men their age. _Angelic no doubt_ , Chevy confirmed silently.

Nodding, the Chevalier turned to regard the woman by his angel’s side, “And you?”

Snorting quite unattractively, but in a manner which seemed to suit her character, the blonde gave a short shake of her head, “Fashion is not my forte, I’ll be joining for friendly support.”

“Don’t be so sure madame, fashion comes in many forms – I think yours just needs a little… tweaking. Some guidance, if I may,” returning his attention to the man before him, Chevy tilted his head invitingly, “And not to worry, I think we’ll find some space for you my dear. A beauty such as yours is always welcome.”

The bashful blush that filled the angel’s cheeks at the compliment caused the Chevalier to grin widely. He felt as if he were Lucifer tempting an angel to join the depths with him, as if he were stripping the angel of his very purity and innocence. _Don’t go down that route, you’ll start using the ‘when did you fall from heaven?’ line and that’s a low you’ve yet to hit..._

“I haven’t even gotten your names! Where are my manners?” Tsking at himself, he held his hand out in greeting, “My name is a very complicated series of titles, so just call me Chevy,” he winked flirtatiously, grin spreading wide in a well-practiced showcasing of his perfectly straight glinting white teeth.

The pale brunette squinted, misunderstanding clear on his face, “She-v?” he queried, bewilderment colouring his tone and boy could Chevy get used to hearing that voice.

The female trendsetter to their side waved to grab angel’s attention, her fingers dancing in the air before moving to the side of her mouth as she slowly pronounced his name. The Chevalier found himself watching the conversation with rapt fascination and was particularly charmed by the set look of concentration on the other man’s face as he copied the mouth patterns of his friend.

“Chevy?” Philippe tried, brows furrowed in concentration and at the blonde’s nod continued to say, “Why on earth would your parents call you that?”

“Charming,” Chevy commented lightly, single eyebrow raised in challenge, “It’s short for Chevalier De Lorraine, my full title. Throwing a noble name about doesn’t get you as far as many would think it does.”

Eyes lighting up, angel smiled widely ( _and what a smile it is – it could light up an entire palace!_ ), “Philippe, duc d’Orléans. I think I have an idea of the difficulty of titles.”

Taking the new information in his stride, Chevy instead found himself enamoured by Philippe’s pronunciation of his title and the lack of accent – it was unusual but charming, “Quite. A member of the royal family, at our quaint little university? Attending my little society? But surely you must have much more important duties to attend?”

“You’d think so but no. I’m the spare, not the heir. And I’m deaf, not much use having a broken monarch. I’m effectively worthless in the grand scheme of things.”

Taken back by Philippe’s blunt and dismissive manner of his own value, the Chevalier felt overrun with the need to compliment and praise the man before him so as to remove all traces of self-doubt he may contain, “I’d rather you didn’t call yourself that my dear, you are full of worth – bursting with it, dare I say. Certainly you’ve already proven you’re full of substance to me – not just a pretty face. Though you are undoubtedly the most beautiful face I’ve seen for a long time.”

Speechless, Philippe stared with wide-eyes at the man opposite him, evidently unsure how to respond or how to articulate his emotions as his hands fidgeted in the air nervously before deftly making a motion from his chin forward.

“I’m sorry?”

“He said thank you. When he’s overwhelmed, he loses his speech and reverts to sign instead. And I’m Liselotte by the way. Just in case you – you know – forgot I existed or anything?” Liselotte’s voice cut in, invading the little bubble the pair had become encased in, rather pointedly.

Shaking his shock off, Philippe pouted peevishly – defaulting to his usual anger and sass in response to the unknown and foreign circumstances the day had presented, “Don’t exaggerate Liselotte. So when does this society meeting begin anyway?”

Acknowledging Philippe’s now standoffish and defensive stature ( _my dear, you are just like an angry little kitten_ ) Chevy heaved a sigh and grinned roguishly, “Yes, if we must. I will introduce you both to the other members and we will commence. Today we will be discussing the latest McQueen autumn/winter portfolio and how easy it is to emulate and create our own pieces without looking like Franprix rejects. Come along and find a space at one of the tables.”

Following after the Chevalier, Philippe and Liselotte took seats at one of the empty tables – Liselotte seating herself opposite Philippe as opposed to beside him oddly. With a deep breath in, eyes reluctantly leaving the visual delight that Philippe was and instead sliding to take in the entire room and each eager face staring back and waiting patiently for him to begin, Chevy raised his head high smirk in place, “Well, ladies and gentlemen. Shall we begin?”

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea niggling at me the past week and I had to get it down. 
> 
> I should say, my knowledge of LSF (French Sign Language) is nil, BSL (British Sign Language) is the one I use and I apologise for any grammar or vocabulary mistakes that may arise - if any LSF users want to correct me, feel free. I am currently relying on a LSF dictionary to keep me right. I am also not D/deaf myself, but a trainee interpreter - so apologise if my deaf awareness is lacking and am once again, happy to be corrected should this be the case.
> 
> In other matters, I just needed to write some Philippe/Chevalier - there's some amazing fic out there but just quite simply, not near enough! I felt it was time to contribute what little I can. I hope it's up to scratch.
> 
> I do not promise frequent updates, if even many. My job requires travelling all around the country so get little time for writing. I will do my best to update if there is interest in the fic.


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